Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

GottaBeMobile PDF Annotator InkShow

Rob Bushway has put together yet another fabulous InkShow demo. This time he demonstrates Grahl Software's Adobe PDF Annotator, which is one of those must have Tablet PC apps. Well worth checking it out if you've ever thought of signing a document in ink. Check it out here.

Interesting Tablet PC Teases

Some interesting Tablet PC teases to look forward to. Eric Mack is testing out a new ultra-wide Tablet PC from an undisclosed OEM. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say and which OEM he's working with.

Josh Einstein promises big news to be released today. Hmmmm? Wonder what that could be.

PC Mag's Michael J. Miller Takes A Look At The Toshiba M400 Tablet PC

When I first saw this on GottaBeMobile, I did a double take. Michael J. Miller and PC Magazine haven't really been all that...er...um... kind to the Tablet PC. But apparently Mr. Miller has been using quite a few Tablet PCs over the last couple of years. He's recently checking out Toshiba's M400 Tablet PC and blogs his thoughts here. Interesting.

Eric Mack Juices Up His Battery Life

Eric Mack is one creative fellow. He's always looking for solutions and taking on challenges. In this adventure he looked to get more battery life for this Toshiba Tablet PC. His home-brew solution is quite ingenious and yielded 9.5 hours and he estimates possible use up to 14 hours with some power saving tweaks turned on.

Check it out here.

Info Surfaces On HP's TC4400 Dual Core Tablet PC

On Tablet PC Buzz, Mark Payton has linked to the first information I've seen on HP's new TC4400 Tablet PC. This dual core Tablet PC looks very similar to the TC4200 and most of the changes appear to be under the hood. Too bad it is not a hybrid.

Here's the link to the info.

Statement Nixes A Toshiba UMPC

Looks like Toshiba won't be offering an entry into the UMPC game after all. Uber Tablet PC detective Hugo Ortega has been on the trail of a Toshiba UMPC and Toshiba Product Manager Mike Coddington left this comment on Hugo's blog:

So…I hope I’m not going to disappoint your readers when I tell you that although Toshiba is going to continue to be at the leading edge of technology there are no plans to bring an ‘Origami’ type UMPC device to market. Having said that things are always in the works……

Disappointing news.

Lenovo X60/X61 Dual Core Tablet PC Closer To Reality?

Tim Marman links to a CoreDuoNews article with info saying that a Lenovo X60/X61 dual core Tablet PC will be available in France on April 6. Here' s a link to the on-line reseller.

FCC Approves Samsung Q1 UMPC

Looks like we may be seeing the Samsung Q1 UMPC in the US. According to various sources (Tablet PC Buzz, UMPC Buzz, Engadget), the FCC has approved specs on the device. Here's a link to the FCC documentation. GIS Guy has a rundown on some of the specs on Tablet PC Buzz.

In other Samsung UMPC news, it looks like Kevin Tofel has tracked down info that verifies that the Samsung Q1 will indeed feature screen rotation.

Pycho Cat Issued Restraining Order After Attacking The Avon Lady

As if the world didn't have enough troubles. Turns out Lewis the Cat is terrorizing a Connecticut town. He's apparently even ambushed and attacked the Avon Lady. The six toed feline apparently is such a menace that the local animal control officer has issued a restraining order... to the cat!

Be careful out there.

The Origami Buisness Vs. Consumer Market Discussion Continues

The discussion started almost after the hype began to diminish. How does Origami/UMPC play towards the business community, given Microsoft/Intel's consumer focus?  Rob and Dennis of GottaBeMobile have chimed in. Spencer chimed in on Tablet PC Buzz, and it has been bandied around quite a bit. James Kendrick has also added to the mix and one of his podcast listeners chimed in with an interesting comment that he has blogged on jkOnTheRun.

While the discussion is more than worthwhile, I believe it has nothing to do with the device itself and how it will be used. It'll get plenty of use in both the consumer and business markets. Anyone who can't see the potential business use of these devices is hoping against hope that the UMPC won't water down the existing Tablet PC market for the business sector. You don't think Motion and OQO aren't nervous? We're talking price point here.

But like most things these days, the marketing whiz kids have made a mess of things. We've all had some fun with the name game thing. Origami vs. UMPC. One's cool, the other is not. Why not keep the codename Origami if you're aiming at the Consumer Market? Why are the "official sites" still carrying the name Origami?

It's still early in the game. Heck, we've only got one OEM taking orders as of today. But I'm betting that we'll see Origami/UMPCs on both sides of the consumer/business spectrums. If you can hook up the peripherals and operate the way jk is talking to a device that costs under $1000 as opposed to a device that costs $2000 what would you choose?